Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Middlesbrough and Playa del Carmen

For one person, living is cheaper in Playa del Carmen: $1,210 a month against $2,089 in Middlesbrough, rent and utilities included – about $10,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

102

Cost of Living Index in Middlesbrough
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Middlesbrough Living Index
59

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index

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Middlesbrough

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,089

/mo nomad

Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,210

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Middlesbrough and in Playa del Carmen

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Middlesbrough and in Playa del Carmen actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,089 in Middlesbrough versus $1,210 in Playa del Carmen.

Middlesbrough $2,089
Playa del Carmen $1,210

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,001 in Middlesbrough versus $2,113 in Playa del Carmen.

Middlesbrough $3,001
Playa del Carmen $2,113

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $3,913 in Middlesbrough versus $3,016 in Playa del Carmen.

Middlesbrough $3,913
Playa del Carmen $3,016

Living in Middlesbrough is roughly 73% more expensive than in Playa del Carmen, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Middlesbrough is 55% above, Playa del Carmen is 10% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$23.80 £17.85

$10.76 MX$199

121.19%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$72.5 £54.4

$43.03 MX$795

68.39%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$10.73 £8.05

$11.79 MX$218

-8.99%

Cappuccino

$4.69 £3.52

$3.87 MX$71.4

21.19%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.41 £1.81

$1.37 MX$25.29

75.91%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.79 £1.35

$0.84 MX$15.44

113.10%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$4.70 £3.53

$3.10 MX$57.3

51.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$7.17 £5.38

$5.07 MX$93.6

41.42%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.22 £0.92

$1.44 MX$26.55

-15.28%

White Bread (500g)

$1.41 £1.06

$2.23 MX$41.23

-36.77%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.45 £1.84

$1.47 MX$27.17

66.67%

Eggs

$3.70 £2.77

$2.53 MX$46.71

46.25%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.68 £5.76

$7.30 MX$135

5.21%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.29 £5.47

$7.86 MX$145

-7.25%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$14.41 £10.81

$12.79 MX$236

12.67%

Apples (1kg)

$2.48 £1.86

$2.90 MX$53.6

-14.48%

Banana (1kg)

$2.38 £1.79

$1.44 MX$26.53

65.28%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.57 £1.93

$2.55 MX$47.07

0.78%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.60 £1.95

$2.06 MX$38.03

26.21%

Potato (1kg)

$1.78 £1.34

$2.00 MX$36.97

-11.00%

Onion (1kg)

$1.54 £1.15

$2.01 MX$37.07

-23.38%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.16 £0.87

$1.19 MX$22.02

-2.52%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$3.03 £2.27

$1.26 MX$23.23

140.48%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$22.39 £16.79

$4.40 MX$81.4

408.86%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.42 £7.07

$9.59 MX$177

-1.77%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$4.43 £3.32

$1.59 MX$29.41

178.62%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.68 £2.76

$2.81 MX$51.9

30.96%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$5.53 £4.15

$0.57 MX$10.47

870.18%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$92.6 £69.5

$27.82 MX$514

232.78%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.39 £3.29

$4.98 MX$92.1

-11.85%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.50 MX$64.6

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$25.94 £19.46

$5.40 MX$99.8

380.37%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.99 £1.49

$1.47 MX$27.08

35.37%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$37.6K £28.2K

$21.0K MX$387.8K

79.37%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$39.8K £29.9K

$23.9K MX$441.8K

66.67%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$346 £260

$84.2 MX$1,556

311.25%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$16.93 £12.70

$23.99 MX$443

-29.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$41.87 £31.41

$29.02 MX$536

44.28%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$49.69 £37.28

$63.0 MX$1,164

-21.10%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$32.46 £24.35

$29.14 MX$539

11.39%

Cinema Ticket

$14.43 £10.83

$4.94 MX$91.3

192.11%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$795 £596

$204 MX$3,763

290.25%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$40.4K £30.3K

$3,941 MX$72.8K

925.35%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$106 £79.8

$43.60 MX$806

143.99%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$53.8 £40.36

$43.12 MX$797

24.77%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$110 £82.7

$75.8 MX$1,400

45.47%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$104 £78.2

$88.6 MX$1,637

17.65%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$997 £748

$1,008 MX$18.6K

-1.15%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$683 £513

$374 MX$6,911

82.66%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$961 £721

$1,708 MX$31.6K

-43.78%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$955 £716

$1,106 MX$20.4K

-13.68%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,944 MX$72.9K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,169 MX$114.0K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$2,303 £1,728

$754 MX$13.9K

205.35%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.64

11.45

-50.74%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Middlesbrough: October 12, 2026

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 10, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Middlesbrough

$683 32.7%

Playa del Carmen

$374 30.9% 45.3% $309

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Middlesbrough

$405 19.4%

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.3% 66.1% $268

Eating Out

Middlesbrough

$334 16%

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.7% 39.4% $131

Groceries & Markets

Middlesbrough

$301 14.4%

Playa del Carmen

$258 21.4% 14.3% $43

Clothing & Footwear

Middlesbrough

$169 8.1%

Playa del Carmen

$113 9.3% 33% $56

Getting Around

Middlesbrough

$119 * 5.7%

Playa del Carmen

$53 4.3% 55.9% $67

Sport & Entertainment

Middlesbrough

$79 3.8%

Playa del Carmen

$73 6% 7.2% $5.7

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $997 in Middlesbrough and $1,008 in Playa del Carmen. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Middlesbrough pays 205% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $72.0 in Middlesbrough vs $43.00 in Playa del Carmen for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $301 vs $258 per month, with Playa del Carmen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇬🇧 Middlesbrough

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🕒 Local time

05:26 5:26 AM

23:26 11:26 PM

6 h behind Middlesbrough

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

139,000

149,923

💱 Currency

British Pound GBP £

Mexican Peso MXN $

📈 Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

100 MXN = 5.41 USD

100 MXN = 4.81 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MXN, USD, EUR to GBP – British Pound Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇬🇧 British Pound (£)

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 18.48 MXN (100 MXN = 5.41 USD). 1 EUR = 20.77 MXN (100 MXN = 4.81 EUR).

USD to GBP in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Middlesbrough Playa del Carmen 7,890 km ≈ 10 h nonstop flight

From you

Middlesbrough
Playa del Carmen

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Middlesbrough vs Playa del Carmen: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Middlesbrough and Playa del Carmen differ by about 73% in total monthly costs ($2,089 vs $1,210 including rent). Playa del Carmen is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 205% higher in Middlesbrough, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $997 in Middlesbrough versus $1,008 in Playa del Carmen. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 17% higher in Middlesbrough. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

Dining out is cheaper in Playa del Carmen – a meal for two runs $43.00 versus $72.0 in Middlesbrough. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

At $1,210 in Playa del Carmen versus $2,089 in Middlesbrough, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Playa del Carmen but tight or insufficient in Middlesbrough. The gap between the two cities makes Playa del Carmen the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Expats usually find Playa del Carmen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 73% less than in Middlesbrough. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.